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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858134">laser tag and other good ways to get hurt</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyimhere/pseuds/happyimhere'>happyimhere</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sam and Colby, Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, How Do I Tag, Hurt Colby Brock, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Panic Attacks, Protective Colby Brock, Protective Elton Castee, Protective Sam Golbach, Whump, big boo boo, i haven't written the ending yet so who knows, it just seem to get sadder, maybe? - Freeform, this was supposed to be happy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:01:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,319</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858134</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyimhere/pseuds/happyimhere</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>this was supposed to be a cute one-shot about Sam and Colby working at an arcade/bowling alley and falling in love. it has now taken on a life of its own and poor Colby just can't catch a break.<br/>featuring: prank wars, mean high school boys, gay panic, lots of avoiding of feelings, a helpful side character, and that dirty 90s carpet bowling alleys always have</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Colby Brock &amp; Elton Castee, Colby Brock &amp; Sam Golbach, Colby Brock/Sam Golbach, Tarayummy/Jake Webber (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i just want to say that this has been sitting in my drafts since last June and i have two versions- the original version (cute, happy, only about 5,000 words) and the other titled "the ouchie version" (exactly the opposite, only written between the hours of 11-4 am, has a whole sad playlist, already at 21,000 words) and you guys can guess which one I'm going with, unless you want the boys to be happy</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Another 6 am party, woohoo!” Colby’s voice rang through the building, merging with the sounds of arcade games and the music being played from Devyn’s phone. Working at The Fun In Life, or TFIL, really was fun most of the time, but when they started booking private party after private party every night, it got rough.</p><p>
There were six people working tonight, and they were all setting up for the group of high school seniors getting ready to come through for their post-graduation celebration. The whole place already smelled of pizza as Colby made his way across the room. Devyn was up front at the main counter ready to do her homework and hand out bowling shoes. Elton was in the back doing god knows what and Tara and Jake were in the kitchen getting the food ready. Which left him and Sam to check the arcade, the bumper cars, and the laser tag to make sure everything was ready to go. This would be an eight-hour shift that would get him home at 7 am. To say his sleeping schedule was fucked is an understatement.</p><p>
Walking past Devyn with a wave, he headed to where Sam was supposed to be. They had split up to get it done faster, but he had the easy check that night (he played rock and Sam played scissors, rookie mistake), which meant he was going to have some fun. They had a prank war running in between the workers, from major pranks (like the time Elton acted like he fell from the second level of the laser tag course) to little ones (like the jump scare he was about to do).</p><p>
Stepping carefully, he passed through the small seating area that led to the bumper cars, ducking into the last booth to hide. A badly whistled rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” reached his ears, and he tensed up, ready to jump out as the sound got closer. Sam walked past his hiding spot, blissfully unaware of his presence.</p><p>
Screeching, Colby launched himself at Sam, latching onto his back and holding on as Sam twisted to look at his attacker.</p><p>
“Colby, God dang it!” Sam’s voice was high pitched, eyes wide and breathing uneven as he tried to reach around and dislodge his attacker. Not wanting to give, Colby kept an arm around Sam’s shoulders as he set his feet on the floor, laughing at the scrunch of Sam’s eyebrows.</p><p>
“One point me,” Colby said gleefully, a smile plastered across his face. Sam tried to look irritated, but Colby could see how hard it was for him to keep a straight expression. Rather than give, he simply huffed and turned away, shaking off Colby’s arm before heading towards the center of the building. Walking quickly to catch up, Colby poked at Sam’s sides until he looked at him again. The butterflies in his stomach erupted as Sam turned, hair backlit from the neon around them.</p><p>
“What?” Sam snapped, but all coherent thought had fled Colby’s head. This wasn’t the first time his crush on his best friend had reared its head at the wrong time, but it didn’t make it any better. He simply stared at his friend helplessly before shrugging. Luckily, Sam just laughed at his friend’s silence, shaking his head in what Colby hoped was a fond manner.</p><p>
“Okay guys,” Elton’s voice rang out, and instantly they both looked at the man. He was standing on the bowling counter, head almost hitting the ceiling. This was the normal debrief position for him, and Colby felt a grin form at the sight. Quickly, Colby put a prank tally next to his name on the whiteboard. “The group should be getting here in about 10 minutes, so let’s review your assignments. Devyn, bowling. Jake, bumper cars. Tara, help Devyn and keep the food stocked. Sam and Colby, laser tag. You guys know what to do, just make sure they have fun, and please god don’t let anyone sue us.”</p><p>
He hopped to the floor and they all laughed from where they had gathered around to listen. Elton’s eyes already held a Red Bull induced gleam, and the rush of adrenaline reminded him why he loved working here, even if the hours were hell. There was no other place he could work where the employee of the month was decided by who won the laser tag tournament or where you got to stay up all night with your best friends and get paid for it.</p><p>
He caught Sam’s eyes, and they both charged forwards to grab Elton, Jake quickly joining in. Soon they were all sprawled across the floor, worn carpet scratching against his skin as he caught his breath, chest heaving.</p><p>
“Okay-“ Elton said, pausing to gasp air in and push himself to his feet. “I guess now we’re ready to start the night, since we seem to have gotten all of our extra energy out.” He shot a glare at the boys still on the ground, but there was a small turn to his lips that made him hard to believe. With a shake of his head, Elton walked towards the front doors to be ready to greet the group.</p><p>
Colby didn’t bother to move as the rest of the group made their way to their stations. It wasn’t until Sam offered him a hand that he forced himself up. As soon as he was on his feet, Sam started to head towards the laser tag, Colby’s eyes following the line of his jaw as he looked at the bowling alley.</p><p>
Then Sam’s head turned back, his gaze lingering a fraction too long, and his brain panicked for an excuse.</p><p>
“Uh, the tag is sticking out of your shirt, here let me fix it.” A prepubescent boy would have had a lower voice than his, and he cursed himself as he ducked behind Sam to hide his blush. It actually was sticking out, which was surprising, since Sam normally cut the tags out.</p><p>
“Thanks dude,” Sam said as Colby fumbled with his collar. His fingers brushed the back of Sam’s neck before he pulled his hands away quickly.</p><p>
He shouldn’t be this hyper-focused on every touch with his best friend, but even the second of contact sent a shock through his body. It wasn’t fair that Sam had that much control over his feelings, yet the other boy had no clue.</p><p>
Luckily Sam didn’t seem to notice as he continued towards the laser tag.</p><p>
There wasn’t much to the building. It was just a huge rectangle, and right next to the front door on the right was an arcade, containing a combination of old-style games and new digital ones. Usually, the employees would have tournaments, either on the big Call of Duty game, or kick it old style with skee ball. Then, in front of the entrance on the left was the 10 lane bowling alley, which took up most of the space. Beside it, behind the arcade, the laser tag was nestled in the back right corner. There was a desk out in the main room with the arcade and bowling alley, a semi-circle of protection for the workers to lounge behind when no one was playing. Colby looked at all of the junk that had accumulated on it as they passed, the surface covered in sticky notes and little cheap figurines from the dispensers out front.</p><p>
They tried not to be out here when the crowd first came in, which is why Sam pushed through the door into the debrief room. Built out from the right wall were three levels of risers covered in dingy black carpet with neon designs. The carpet was probably as old as Colby was, and it looked like it had been ripped off of a 90’s movie theater floor. The players sat on them while they learned the rules before the game, and it always made him feel particularly gross whenever he had to clean them.</p><p>
Sam didn’t pause here either, instead choosing to head through the only other door in the room into the vest room.</p><p>
“So let me guess,” Sam drawled out, turning to face Colby with his hands stuffed into his jeans. Jeans which hugged his legs just right, in Colby’s opinion. “I’m taking the first debriefing?”</p><p>
Colby pushed his bottom lip out, widening his eyes, and tried to look as pathetic as possible. “Please?”</p><p>
Sam just shook his head, turning away in an attempt to hide the small smile spreading across his face.</p><p>
Suddenly, the sound of yelling and laughter filled the other room. The party had arrived. Their eyes met and Sam grimaced. Colby just shrugged in response, happy he wasn’t the one that had to deal with them first.</p><p>
“Sucks Bro,” he snorted, dodging as the blond boy lunged at him. “Oh ho, no no no. Just because you agreed to take the first debrief doesn’t mean you get to be pissy with me.”</p><p>
“Fuc-“</p><p>
“Ah ah ah, language! This is a workplace, Samuel! I would have thought you knew better tsk tsk,” Colby could feel the goofy grin fill out his face and he couldn’t bring himself to hold it back. Sam just stuck out his tongue before moving to the door where the noise on the other side had risen, which meant a group was probably forming.</p><p>
“What if we just hide out here for the rest of the night? Tell them it’s out of order?” The boy’s hand rested on the doorknob, an edge of fear in his tone. Post-graduation high school groups were always the worst. They had high energy, understandably, but they also were past the point of caring and felt like they never had to listen. It made their lives hell.</p><p>
Colby just smiled apologetically when Sam looked his way, which earned him a middle finger. The door cracked open, and the sound doubled instantly, making them both wince. Quickly, the other boy stepped into the chaos, leaving Colby alone to do a final system check.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Uhh, I found a tennis ball?”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While Sam started the rules debrief on the other side of the wall, Colby set on making sure all of the guns were ready and set to individual. Back when he first started working here, the constant black lighting gave him headaches, but now his eyes adjusted to it like normal. Working the laser tag room was always his favorite assignment, and both him and Sam normally got put here because they were the only ones with enough energy to keep up. That, and they had both memorized the rules.</p><p>
Colby’s hand found purchase on the indentation of the sliding door to the control room, pushing it over before stepping out. Lining the walls were roughly 25 laser tag vests, lit up blue, green, and red, each with their own name so the person could see where they ranked. The lights overhead made the letters on his black hoodie glow, along with the white lines on his vans. He slipped his hand inside his pocket as he made his way to the door to the debrief room, only to feel it hit against something fuzzy.</p><p>
“What the...” Colby’s voice trailed off as he pulled out a ratty looking tennis ball. He couldn’t remember putting that in his pocket, but the lights made it glow, and it was kinda cool. Sam would think so too.</p><p>
Without hesitation, Colby pushed his hand against the cool metal bar and started opening the door.</p><p>
“...and if you hit the portal fourteen times, you win the portal back. Now, I go to a public high school, so I know I can’t count that high sometimes.” Suddenly it dawned on Colby why he was setting up the vests and why he maybe shouldn’t have opened the door. Oops.</p><p>
“After that-“ Sam’s voice cut off as he jerked his head to look at Colby, who was pushing the door wider to step inside. “What do you want, Colby?”</p><p>
About 20 teenagers stared dazedly at him, clad in matching black t-shirts with white letters announcing their high school. Suddenly, Colby wished he had just stayed behind the door. Half looked to be a group of sports boys, and then there were two smaller groups of girls sitting in opposite corners. Obviously, they were all a year older than him, and since he looked 14 on a good day, he was petrified.</p><p>
“Uhh, I found a tennis ball?” Colby held out the ball for Sam to see, slipping a grin on his face. The group of girls in the top corner giggled, and he could feel his face flush red. Luckily, no one could see it in the light.</p><p>
“That’s great Colby, thank you for sharing.” Sam kept his fast and serious tone and quickly went back into instructions. Colby quietly shut the door behind him before leaning back against the wall and bouncing the tennis ball. A few seconds later Sam shot him a look, so he bounced the ball once more to show Sam that he couldn’t do shit, then shoved it back in his pocket.</p><p>
He kicked his foot up against the wall, pushing at his hair to try and move it from its spot perpetually in his eyes. Then he was left to just listen to Sam fly through a speech he knew forwards and backwards. Subconsciously, he started fiddling with one of the rings on his left hand, spinning it around over and over. Boredom started to kick in, and he glanced back out at the group. He liked to try and read the players- give them lives and personalities. There was a boy in the front row with basketball shorts and a scruffy beard. He was leaned back against the row behind him, and when Sam got particularly animated, he would hit at the guy beside him and whisper. Normally they would both snicker after. Obviously those two were probably stereotypical teenage boys. The type that wore white Nike socks and gym shorts and pushed kids like him in the halls and called him slurs. Named Kyle or Micheal, some stupid frat boy name. Douchebags.</p><p>
Then there was a girl in the top corner who was leaning on the curly-haired girl beside her. The ripped knee of her jeans kept bouncing up and down and he could see her fingers picking at the ratty carpet. The girl beside her leaned over and rested her head on the fidgety girl’s shoulder. Instantly, the anxious girl’s knee slowed down, a small smile settling on her face. Colby imagined that they were like him and Sam. They knew when the other needed a grounding moment. He looked over at his friend, who was in the middle of going over the bad language policy.</p><p>
“How many of you have a broken bad language filter?” This was their normal question for party groups, because while Elton didn’t like it with little kids, if it was just high schoolers, it could slide. Colby raised his hand and gave the group another dopey smile, taking notice that the anxious girl, and half of the rest of the group, raised their hands too.</p><p>
“Well, are any of you strongly opposed to that kind of language?” Sam asked, and there was a round of laughter as several people called out “Caroline”. The girl, who Colby guessed was Caroline, ducked her head as the people around her nudged her, laughing.</p><p>
“Okay,” Sam started again, doing his fake laugh, “Well, just try to avoid it as much as possible, but you’ve all probably heard worse in your school hallways. I know I have.”</p><p>
Colby could tell the group was getting restless, but luckily after clarifying that they wanted it to be a free-for-all, Sam flicked his hand at him. Pushing himself off the wall with his foot,  he moved to go back out of the door he came in through to set the system right. When the girls’ giggles increased, Colby felt his shoulders instinctively tense. Logically, he knew they weren’t laughing at him, but he didn’t waste any time making it safely to the other room. Big groups of older high school kids always unnerved him, even though he was technically ‘in charge’.</p><p>
He did the final check of the equipment before moving to stand in front of the door to the playing area. It was his job to make sure no one went in before Sam was done explaining the final parts of the rules. No running. Two hands on the phaser. All of that fun stuff.</p><p>
The door on the other side of the room burst open and the sea of rowdy teens flowed in. Just like every time, Colby froze for a moment before forcing himself into character. He relaxed his shoulders, flicked his brown hair to the side, and settled an easy grin on his face. It was the same persona he used to get through school, and any trouble he and Sam got into. It worked especially well on old ladies and especially bad on other teenage boys. It’s like they could smell his anxiety. But these boys were too preoccupied goading the girls and shoving each other like cavemen. A hand grabbed Colby’s elbow and he jumped, his shell cracking for a moment.</p><p>
“Jesus, bro, I didn’t see you walk up!” Colby turned to face his friend, already feeling better having the other boy beside him. Sam gave him one of his crooked smiles before running his hand through his glowing hair. Colby was a bit jealous how the black light made Sam look. Putting them side by side gave the look of good and evil, and he couldn’t help to find it true. It’s like the world was always trying to remind Colby that Sam was too good for him.</p><p>
“I found a tennis ball,” Sam pitched his voice up in a crude impersonation, “really?” He glanced at Colby before continuing, “This group’s gonna be interesting though. Half seem to want to kill each other and the other half seem terrified.” Sam didn’t look back at him while he was talking, instead choosing to watch the teens as they split back off into the groups they were originally in, even though it was technically a free-for-all.</p><p>
“I’m just worried they’ll run me over while I’m trying to ref,” Colby said, thinking back on all the bruises he’d gotten from this job.</p><p>
“Good luck brother,” Sam hit his shoulder before wading into the center of the group. He started the final speech while Colby headed back to the operating room. He waited until Sam said the magic words, “now hold up your guns”, and turned on the vests before heading back out. The boys made their way to the back of the line, while the anxious girl and her friends stood up front. He quietly hoped they did well, the devious glint in their eyes giving him faith.</p><p>
“Okay guys, the round won’t start immediately, so just go in and find a place. Remember both levels are free game.” With that, Sam moved toward the door, Colby taking his place on the opposite side. Nodding at each other, they opened the door and before he knew it, all of the players were inside.</p><p>
“You take the far downstairs, I’ll stay around the door, alright bro?” They switched off where they had to go, because the back part sucked.</p><p>
“What? No way bitch, Rock Paper Scissors for that shit.” Sam just rolled his eyes at Colby’s outstretched fist, but he matched it. Unfortunately, Colby still lost, and Sam stuck his tongue out at him before bowing and gesturing at the door.</p><p>
“Cheater,” Colby mumbled, stalking through the door to the sound of Sam’s laughter behind him.</p><p>
The familiar voice came over the intercom to signal the start of the game, encouraging him to pick up his pace as he made his way through the dark play area. Like most of the building, everything was blacklit and painted neon colors. There were walls put up as obstacles and shelters throughout the room, but Colby was certain he could navigate it blindfolded if asked. He knew where all of the best spots to hide were and where to camp out. Elton normally let them play one on one rounds at the end of shifts, and him and Sam went hard. He wasn’t paying attention as another body rammed into his, sending him stumbling back into a wall.</p><p>
“Oh I’m sor-“ Colby was cut off by the other boy continuing to push past him.</p><p>
“Out of my way,” It was the boy with the scruffy beard from earlier. He hadn’t said anything particularly bad, but it still made Colby curl into himself. This is why high school groups are his least favorite. He was supposed to be the one keeping them in line, but there was no way he was reprimanding the kid. He had already disappeared anyway, so Colby just moved behind a nearby wall with a hole cut in it so he could see out, and paused.</p><p>
There was panic rising up in his chest for no reason and he needed to calm down. He was at work, in the middle of a game, surrounded by strangers. Now was not the time for a panic attack. The players’ yells seemed to bounce around inside his head while the glowing pinks, oranges, and greens swam in front of his eyes. Air, he needed air. Forcing his breaths to go deep in his lungs, he felt his head clear a bit; enough for him to register the pounding footsteps headed his way. Bracing himself on the wall, he forced on a calm exterior just in case he had to interact with someone. Luckily the girl went right past him, brown ponytail whipping around as she turned the corner.</p><p>
Colby could feel the panic simmer down. It always made him feel like a boiling pot, so close to bubbling over, but this time he had avoided it. It still sat in his chest though, and he wanted nothing more than for this game to be called so he could talk to Sam. He was always good at distracting him.</p><p>
The rest of the time went smoothly, just a few players running, but nothing more serious. Once he calmed down a bit more, he was able to enjoy watching the game and seeing the boy who shoulder checked him getting constantly shot made it even better. Apparently, some of the other kids had vendettas against him too. The energy was really high, and there was a lot of yelling and laughing until the buzzer went off and the vests powered down.</p><p>
“Okay guys, make your way back to the ramp!” Sam’s voice carried through the room, and Colby headed that way too. He didn’t have to check the room since they did a headcount on the way out to make sure no one stayed behind.</p><p>
Once they were back in the vest room and everyone had taken off the gear, Colby realized that any panic left had eased away. A sharp elbow to his side pulled his attention back to Sam, who nodded for him to take the lead.</p><p>
“Okay, uhh,” at once all their heads turned to him, the laughter and pushing dying down. “Was that fun?” A chorus of ‘yeah!’s erupted, making Colby smile. “Awesome, awesome, so in just a second we’re gonna go out and you’ll be able to see how you scored, so make sure you remember what your vest name was, alright?”</p><p>
Instantly, they all went back to check their vests, before heading towards Sam, who had moved to stand in front of the exit door. He shot Colby an easy grin before letting them out. This was one of Colby’s favorite parts, getting to see who actually won. Inside the room, it was impossible to tell who was really doing well, so each time a little bit of excitement ran through Colby’s body, even if he wasn’t the one playing.</p><p>
The group made a haphazard semicircle around the screen, faces flushed and hair wild. He glanced at Sam, who was watching the players too. The lights from the arcade games lit his face, the blue in his eyes coming out full force in the neon. He wanted to see how beautiful Sam’s eyes looked in every kind of light, but he knew Sam would never look at him and think the same things. Not that he couldn’t blame him. That didn’t make it hurt any less.</p><p>
The screen flashed, and everything was suspended for a second as everyone read for their names. Then the shouting started.</p><p>
“I got second! How the fuck?” Colby’s eyes looked for the owner of the voice, and landed on the anxious girl from before. She was grabbing at her friend’s hand, a huge smile on her face, while her friend just laughed. The other one didn’t seem too interested in the screen, choosing instead to celebrate with her.</p><p>
He watched as the rest found their scores, only slightly satisfied when the boy that shoved him groaned about ranking low.</p><p>
They passed out the score papers and the group quickly dispersed. He knew that another line would start soon, but they needed to do a system check before they started playing back to back games. Hopefully, this would give him a chance to talk to Sam. While the panic had gone down for now, that normally meant it was going to fly back worse at some point. Sam was the only person in his life that knew. Once he realized that it was easier to get through a panic attack if he had Sam to talk to, they stuck together pretty much all of the time. Thanks to the same class schedule and the same job, there wasn’t really a lot of time for them to be apart. They were a package deal at this point, everyone knew that.</p><p>
“Bro, let’s hurry up and do the tech run and get back out here, I see some people headed this way.” Sam said, turning and going back through the door. Colby followed, debating the best way to bring up what happened. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but the guilt still lingered.</p><p>
“Hey Sam?” The words passed his lips unapproved once they were back in the vest room.</p><p>
“Yeah?”</p><p>
“I just, well,” Sam slowed to a stop, turning to face the dark haired boy. Colby hated the instant furrow in the other boy’s brows. “I uh, wanted to say that, um-” The blond stepped forwards and Colby panicked, ditching his plan. “You get the back next round!” He forced a smile onto his face and hoped it didn’t look as fake as it felt.</p><p>
Sam just shook his head before pausing, regarding Colby out of the corner of his eye. His heart raced as the other boy’s eyes traveled around his face, then down his body. He fought the urge to back away, forcing himself to hold eye contact. Could Sam tell he was lying? Or did Sam somehow know about his feelings? He suddenly felt like his crush was written across his face, plain for anyone to see. Was he trying to come up with an easy way to break it to him that he didn’t like him like that? Or was he just finally seeing how much of a loser Colby was, and he was trying to figure out how to tell him?</p><p>
Then arms were wrapping around his middle and he was toppling over, frantically trying to catch himself.</p><p>
“Payback!”</p><p>
The worn-down carpet was hard as they fell into it, but luckily Colby took most of the impact. Sam had adjusted his hold in the chaos, so he had both of Colby’s wrists pinned by his head. Their faces were inches from each other, with Sam basically sitting on his lower stomach. His mind flashed with other ways they could have ended up in this position, and his heartbeat picked up.</p><p>
“Ha, this will teach you not to jumpscare me, god dang it!” Colby could feel Sam’s breath on his cheeks as he taunted him, and without thinking his eyes glanced down at his friend’s pale pink lips. They were gently parted in a triumphant smile and Colby swore he could die happy as long as that smile was pointed at him. Quickly, he jerked his eyes back up to Sam’s, and he saw they were already on his own. Fuck.</p><p>
“I- uh- I think I learned my lesson.” The words were barely a whisper, carefully passing through his lips and settling into the increasingly heavy air around them.</p><p>
Sam’s hands gripped his wrists a bit tighter, but he didn’t say anything. He just studied Colby’s face quietly, eyes roaming from his temple to his chin before seeming to freeze on his lips. A breath passed, then muffled talking came through the door as kids crowded around the desk. Like he’d been shocked, Sam jolted back, yanking his hands away from Colby before standing. The action hit like a knife to his heart, but he pushed himself up anyways. He probably imagined the pause on his lips, a side effect of his own hope. Sam just wanted to get even, nothing more.</p><p>
He dusted off his clothes as Sam stumbled towards the technical booth. Colby couldn’t see his face, and for once he was thankful. It would crush him to see the disgust and discomfort painted on the blond boy’s features. And in all of that, he still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Sam about earlier. If he said something now though, he would be watching Colby all night and it would only make things more uncomfortable. They had five and a half more hours to get through, he didn’t want to throw it all off now. So, against his better judgment, Colby just went through the tests, only responding to Sam when needed. If the other boy thought it was weird, he didn’t let it show. The kids on the other side of the wall kept getting louder,. Soon one of them would have to go out and let them in.</p><p>
“You wanna run the rules this time?” Sam’s voice came from the box, and Colby nodded before realizing he couldn’t see him.</p><p>
“Yeah, I was getting ready to head that way.” Reaching out, he noticed just how badly his hand was shaking. He took a deep breath to steady himself. This really wasn’t how he had wanted to start off the night, but it could only get better from here. And soon enough, they were in the groove, and Colby let the whole incident slip to the back of his mind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I have what I think is the whole fic written now, so I'll update every few days, mainly because college is starting again and I want to proof-read the rest a bit more before I upload it. And decide if I'm going to add a bit more onto the end. Who knows?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Colby shouldn't be left alone, the poor kid can't keep out of trouble.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a content warning- there is physical violence and a homophobic slur in this chapter. So if that's something you aren't down with, I'll do a really abstracted summary of those parts at the bottom. It's not super bad, just people being jerks, but I thought I would give a heads up.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was around 3:15 when it all went to shit. Sam had left for his forty-minute break about ten minutes ago, which left Colby manning the laser tag alone. At this point of the night, everyone had chilled out, at least until their second wind hit around 4. So they were able to leave it with just one person running. Colby had gotten his break an hour ago, and now he was left swiveling mindlessly on the chair behind the counter.</p><p>
A knock on the desk jolted him from his daydream, and he looked up at the group of five boys standing there. It was the sports boys from the first group, including the one who had pushed him.  The panic he thought was gone slunk back into his stomach.</p><p>
“Hey guys, you wanna play?” He knew Elton probably wouldn’t fault him if he lied and said he couldn’t run it without Sam, especially if he told him about what happened, but he didn’t want to risk it. Instead, he swallowed the anxiety and hoped that earlier was just a side effect of competitive nature. The boys all looked at each other and snickered before the scruffy one (he must be the leader) spoke up.</p><p>
“Yeah, can we just do it with us five? We have a bet to settle,” the boy eyed him up and down before smirking. Yeah, he definitely looked like a Kyle.</p><p>
Another in the group, this one with red hair and an even patchier beard, jerked his head upwards in a convoluted nod, as though the statement needed backing. There were two others that looked like linebackers, well over six feet with broad shoulders and slightly absent expressions. He took the last boy in for a moment. Thin built with large eyes, he looked uncomfortable just being there. He kept glancing back at the main area and fidgeting with a rubber bracelet on his arm. It looked like any free bracelet, but the numbers that flashed as the boy spun it around looked like Bible passages. Ignoring the alarms in his head, he got up and motioned for them to follow him.</p><p>
“So, you’ve all played here before, right?” Colby was still faced away from them as he spoke, and he got what sounded like ‘duh, dipshit’ back, but he ignored that too. “Alright, so remember, no running, no physical contact, and minimal cursing. If you want, I can do the whole speech again, but if you think you got it, it’s unnecessary.”</p><p>
“Yeah no, the spaz gave it to us earlier.” Again, the words were mumbled, but Colby could hear them loud and clear. He knew he couldn’t say anything with it being five against one, but that didn’t stop the anger from flooding in. He just kept his eyes on his vans as he pushed open the door to the vest room, letting them in before heading to the box.</p><p>
When he came back out they all had vests on, and after the mandatory checks, he let them race into the room. Taking a second to calm himself, he decided that he didn’t care if they died, he was going to stay near the front and let bygones be bygones. This was above his pay grade.</p><p>
For the first few minutes, it was like any other game. There were people yelling and racing past him, and Colby found himself forgetting why he was worried to start with. At some point, he had migrated towards the center to get a better view. He was walking to lean against the wall when he felt someone grab him. One arm wrapped around his torso while the other covered his mouth, and he was yanked to face the center of the room. There, he found the other four boys, the lights on their chests illuminating their faces red. His heart was pounding wildly, and he was sure the guy holding him could feel it.</p><p>
“I wouldn’t bother struggling, we just wanna have some fun.” There was a sick smile on the other boy’s face. “We got bored bowling and Lucas had the idea to come fuck around with the fags down here. It worked out that there was just one of you, though two would have been more fun.” The kid spoke calmly, and Colby knew he was right. Even if he struggled, he wasn’t getting free. One of the linebacker guys with arms like tree trunks was missing from the line up, which meant he was probably the one crushing him right now.</p><p>
For once in his life, he wished he had done something other than band so maybe he would have a chance of fending these kids off. Instead, he was just stuck watching Scruffy come closer and closer until he was inches away from his face.</p><p>
“Something about you two pissed me off from the second you walked in with that stupid tennis ball. I couldn’t figure it out at first, and then I realized. It was because you were gay for him. Does he know? Or do you just have some creepy crush on your coworker?” Everything Colby had eaten that night felt like it was crawling back up his throat. How did this kid manage to realize something none of his friends had caught? Something that he had been so careful about? He wanted to scream, and the boy was looking at him like he expected an answer, but Sasquatch behind him still had his mouth covered. He glanced over at the nervous kid from earlier, and saw that he was a few steps back, still gripping his gun protectively in front of him. Colby tried to make eye contact, but the kid kept his eyes trained on the ground. Giving up on getting help, he tried to put on the unbothered mask he used in the hallways. Maybe they would just insult him until they got bored.</p><p>
“It doesn’t matter,” the leader said, stepping back. “We’re gonna teach you a lesson either way. And if you tell anyone, I’ll find your little boyfriend and tell him how you feel. Then I’ll do this to him too.”</p><p>
The person holding him shifted his grip, the hand that had covered his mouth came down to yank his arms behind his back., propping him up with his front exposed. Even though he knew it would do no good, he started twisting in the hold, unsuccessfully trying to kick at his captor’s legs. A fist colliding with his stomach stopped all of it, his body trying to double over but being held straight. He could hear the other boys laughing as he gasped for air, renewing his efforts to escape. He looked up for a second, only to be greeted by another punch.</p><p>
“Nice one, Tyler,” one of the other boys jeered. His name was Tyler, not Kyle. Damn it, he was so close. He drew a harsh breath into his lungs, and it was instantly knocked back out. This time Sasquatch let him drop, but as soon as he hit the ground he knew why. Feet slammed into his ribs and stomach, and if he tried to stand, some hand shoved him back down. So he just curled into a ball and waited. Normally, the music being played in the tag room was too quiet to hear, but with the only sound being his pained grunts, the familiar thud of Mr. Brightside pulsed in Colby’s head. He stupidly wished it was something more fitting, or at least a song he didn’t enjoy.</p><p>
Any coherent thought left his head as someone’s shoe landed between his shoulder blades. Everything on his body hurt, but deep down, he was glad they chose to do it on Sam’s break and not his. He couldn’t imagine finding out that this had happened to Sam and he hadn’t been there to stop it. Curling tighter, he felt a particularly hard kick land in the middle of his ribs, a cry leaving his mouth for the first time that night.</p><p>
He heard the boys above him laugh, and he knew that was what they had wanted. A hand grabbed his hair, strands yanking sharply as he was lifted up. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of crying out again, biting his lip until he was worried it would bleed.</p><p>
“Have you had enough?” Tyler said, a mocking smile on his face. He must have whitened his teeth for graduation, because they glowed from between his thin lips. Colby forced himself to breathe, the air burning down his throat and into his expanding lungs. Then he thrust his chin forward, meeting Tyler’s gaze.</p><p>
“Fuck you.”</p><p>
There was a moment of satisfaction before the hand in his hair slammed him down into the concrete, his cheek getting the worst of it. He just dug his teeth into his lip, tasting blood this time.</p><p>
“You’re worthless, do you know that?” Kick. “You’re a freak and you deserve this.” Kick. “You never should’ve been born.” Kick. “Everyone would hate you if they knew.” Kick.</p><p>
He didn’t want to listen, didn’t want to believe the words washing over him like acid, searing and burning into his skin. But how could he not when the dark parts of his brain argued that they were true? This was just a reinforcement of everything he thought about himself.</p><p>
The fight that had filled his body until then left, replaced by a chilling emptiness. A few more kicks were delivered to his body, but they seemed to realize they had won.</p><p>
“I think we’re done here. Remember, if you say shit- you’re dead.” The voice was low and close to Colby’s ear, sending chills down his body.</p><p>
With a final kick to the side of his ribs, the boys backed away. He stared at the glowing laces of the Nikes in front of his eyes, trying to find the will to stand. He gathered everything in him to push onto his knees, but when he went to rise up, the muscles in his core gave a resounding no. His entire body shook with the effort, hands grabbing at the wall for support. It hurt like hell, but at least he was relatively eye-to-eye with the douchebags now rather than staring at their laces.</p><p>
The ring leader, Tyler, smirked at him, and somehow from this angle, he looked a lot more like a teenage boy and not the devil Colby could have sworn he was. No one said anything. They didn’t have to. His eyes finally met the nervous boy’s. It was easy to see the guilt there, but it didn’t help him now.</p><p>
Rather than chance them starting in on him again, Colby headed slowly to the door, his body protesting every step. He fought back the tears gathering in his eyes, determined not to give the boys that. An odd numbness had joined the emptiness in his body, starting in the center of his chest and slowly seeping out until he almost felt like he was floating. The boys must have actually been satisfied, because they didn’t fuck with him through the exit routine. He ducked his head down as they passed by him into the arcade, concentrating on the lack of feeling in his stomach.</p><p>
“By the way, the game was awesome. We’ll totally have to come back and play again.” Tyler had a wicked smile painted across his face, and a pulse of pain shot through his numb ribs at the words. Rather than responding, he just dug his nails into his palms, trying to feel anything. Then the group was off, the smaller boy shooting him an apologetic look. What good did it do?</p><p>
Running a hand through his messy hair, he glanced around to make sure no one was waiting to play before stepping back into the vest room, letting the cool air wash over him. At once, all of the sensations came crashing back in, his cheek and chest throbbing violently. He wished for the numbness again, anything to ease the pain running through him.</p><p>
“Shit,” he muttered as his body fell harshly to the floor, which did nothing to help his injuries. He knew he needed to calm his breathing. Maybe, that would lessen the feeling that someone had replaced his ribcage with white-hot metal bars. Too soon, Sam would be coming back, and he needed to get his shit under control. Even if it hurt like hell, he could handle it, as long as it meant Sam was okay and unaware of how stupidly in love with him he was.</p><p>
So he picked himself up off the floor, hisses of pain falling from his lips with every movement, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The screen lit up, and he had to look away from the too bright light. Fuck, Sam’s break should be over in six minutes. He slid over and opened the camera, turning his head to inspect his cheek. Already, there was a swollen red spot, but he was clumsy. Sam would probably believe that he ran into one of the barriers. He’d have to.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Basically, sports boys from last chapter play a game while Colby is running it alone, beat him up, call him slurs, and threaten to out him if he tells anyone. so he decides to hide it from sam. the next chapter should be up soon :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>nothing really important happens in this chapter, but i'll upload the next part when i'm 100% certain which version I'm going to go with. thank you sm for reading!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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